Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
8 Bean soup mix - 1/2 cup
(mix of Lentils & Pulses - available in stores)
Onions - 1 med
Garlic - 2 pods
Ginger - small piece
Carrot - 1
Peas + Corn - 1/3 cup
Vegetable broth - 1 can (optional)
Diced tomatoes canned - 1 cup
Crushed pepper - 1 tsp
Mustard, Zeera and chana dal for seasoning
Parsley
Jalapeno
Salt
Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Soak the soup mix i.e lentils+pulses overnight. Wash them and pressure cook for nearly 3 whistles. They should be cooked soft.
2. Chop onions, mince garlic, cut carrots and jalapenos and keep them aside.
3. Heat oil in a soup pan, do the seasoning with mustard, zeera and chana dal.
4. Add onions, ginger and garlic and saute them until onions become translucent. Remove ginger from this and throw. We just need the flavor and not the spiciness.
5. Add carrots, peas and corn, saute once and let them cook with lid ON.
6. When they are done, add diced tomatoes and cook.
7. Then add pressure cooked soup mix and veg broth. Add water if needed.
8. Add salt, crushed pepper, parsley and jalapenos according to your spiciness.
9. Boil until the oil floats and then remove from the flame.
   

That's it! Hot Hot Healthy vegetable soup is ready!

Enjoy like this or serve with some bread crumbs and black pepper.

Stuffed Bitter gourd (Kaakara kaaya Vullikaaram)

We love bitter gourd dishes from childhood itself and we used to have our lunch with this dish even it is just the brunch time! This recipe is for bitter gourd lovers and those who doesn't like this vegetable can also try this recipe to start liking it!

This is one kind of bitter gourd dishes made by my mom.


Ingredients:
Bitter gourds - 5
Onion - 3-4 med
Dry red chillies - 5
Zeera - 1 tsp
Salt
Oil - 6 - 10 tbsp

Method:

1. Slice the bitter gourd lengthwise and cut into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces.
2. Put them in boiling water along with more salt.
3. Drain the water when they are cooked and let them cool. (They will be cooked soon. so be careful that they are not mushy.) This is done to remove the unbearable bitterness of bitter gourd.
4. In the mean while, heat the oil in a pan.
5. Remove the seeds and fleshy part from the cooked bitter gourd pieces making it available for stuffing. Keep the seeds and fleshy part aside to use it later. Slightly squeeze the excess water from it by your thumb pressing in middle of the piece.
6. In the oiled pan, carefully place some cooked bi.go pieces and fry them. When they are done, take them out and place on paper towel to take out excess oil. In this way, fry all the cooked pieces in batches.
7. Then fry seeds and fleshy part also together and remove from oil.
8. Then paste the onions, red chillies, salt and zeera together and fry in this remaining oil. (Prepare the paste just before you fry it... otherwise it will start watering.) When this is fried and starts leaving the sides of the pan, remove from heat.
9. When this is warm, stuff the fried bitter gourd pieces with this paste.
10. Mix some paste to the fried seeds and flesh also.
    

Serve as it is with hot white rice or along with some toor dal.

Green bhendi with greens / Okra with Spinach

As you think, this is really a different combo which I found from Seema, one of the bloggers. This is my version of it...


Ingredients:
Okra/ bhendi/ Lady's fingers
Spinach/ palak - 1 bunch
Onion - 1/2
Green chillies - 2
Red chillies - 2
Asafoetida / Hing - a pinch
Mustard, zeera, Chana dal for seasoning
Salt
Oil - 3 tbsp

Method:

1. Wash and air dry okra. Cut into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces.
2. In a pan, heat the oil and do the seasoning with mustard, zeera, chana dal, green and red chillies, and hing.
3. Add sliced onions and saute till transparent.
4. Add cut okra, fry and then cook with lid ON.
5. When it is done, add cut spinach and salt and cook until spinach is done.
6. Thats it... Yummy and easy 'Okra with spinach' curry is ready :)
   

Goes well with Rice!

Stuffed Eggplant

Today we had two dishes for lunch which are 'Stuffed Eggplant/Brinjal/Vankaya' and 'Okra with Spinach' (from Seema's blog). I did these two dishes for the first time and they really turned yummy!


Ingredients:
Small Eggplants/ Brinjals - 8
Onion - 1 big
Red chillies - 4
Zeera - 1 tsp
Salt
Oil - 4tbsp

Method:

1. Grind onion, zeera, chillies and salt into paste.
2. Slit each brinjal into four as shown in pic, without really cutting them into pieces.
3. Heat oil in a pan.
4. Stuff each brinjal with this onion paste (see that no paste is coming out to avoid burning) and place it carefully in the hot oiled pan. Do all the brinjals in this way.
5. Turn the brinjals (preferebly with hands if u feel ok, but be careful) frequently to cook all the sides. After you see the brinjal fried on all the sides, cover it and allow to cook under med-low flame for couple of mins.
6. Then add the remaining onion paste.
7. After two min, cover again with lid ON and cook until the onion paste and brinjals are done.

Yummy yummy stuffed brinjal curry is ready to serve with hot gheed white rice !!!

Cranberry cake

This is the first time I tried to make the cake from the scratch. Everytime we bring instant cake mix with different flavors from the grocery store. I thought its better to buy instant mix with different flavors to prepare cake for two people. Its true... but we can also make cake easily with the resourses we have.

We have dried cranberries and raisins in hand. So, I prepared Cranberry+raisin cake. I added raisins to decrease the tartness of cranberries by the sweetness of raisins.

The recipe follows...


Ingredients:
All-purpose flour - 1 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Ground cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Butter - Unsalted, softened - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Eggs - 1
Milk - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
Dried cranberries + Raisins -1/2 cup

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray the Bundt pan lightly with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix milk, butter and sugar. Mix in egg and vanilla.
4. Mix in flour mixture in two additions alternately with milk, ending with flour. Stir in dried cranberries and raisins. Spoon batter into prepared pan.
5. The lovely bundt cake was set to bake in the 350ºF oven for 15-20 min or until a toothpick or uncooked sphagetti inserted into the cake comes out clean. The tentalizing tendrils of aroma coming from the oven will hint at how great this cake would be.
6. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes and then remove from pan.

We like to eat cake as it is without any Icing or Sauce on it because we like the flavors of vanilla, egg and milk coming out of the baked cake :-)

Tindora in Onion Tomato paste

Ingredients:
Tindora (Gherkins, Dondakaya)
Onion
Tomato
Mustard, Zeera for seasoning
Chilli powder
Oil
Salt

Method:

1. Soak the Tindora in warm water for 10 min and wash them throughly with running water.
2. Cut them into tiny or small cubical pieces and keep them aside.
3. Heat the oil in the pan and do the seasoning with mustard and zeera.
4. Put the cut tindora in the pan and fry for 2 min.
5. Add some salt, cover with lid and let them cook until almost done under medium-low flame.
6. While they are cooking, heat another pan with some oil and saute the chopped onions.
7. Add chopped tomato, salt and cook with lid ON until it forms puree and the oil starts to float.
8. Allow it to cool for a while or pour little water to make it cool to grind into fine paste.
9. Add this paste to the cooking tindora and fry for 2 more min.
10. Finally sprinkle the chilli powder and serve with hot rice!

Note: You can make this as a fry or gravey curry by changing the water content in the onion tomato paste. For gravey curry cut tindora length wise!

Kichidi

This is similar to pongal made with moong dal, pepper and ginger. Everybody has their own style in making kichidi, right from the variety of dals, combination of vegetables and spices used, as well as the texture of the lentil, rice and water combination.

Here is my version...



Ingredients:
Rice - 1 cup
Moong dal - 1/2 cup
cinnamon - 1/2 inch
Cardamom - 1
Cloves - 2
Black pepper - 8
Onion - 1
Green chillies - 3
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
ginger garlic paste - 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - pinch
Oil or ghee
Salt

Method:

1. Chop onions, green chillies and coriander leaves.
2. Wash the rice and moongdal. Add water in 1:2 ratio and put aside.
3. Heat oil or ghee in a pressure cooker and add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and blackpepper. When they splutter add turmeric, curry leaves, green chillies and onions, fry them till translucent and add ginger and garlic paste. Fry for 1-2 min.
4. Add rice and moongdal, salt and cook it.

Serve kichidi as it is or with sambar, curd or any pickle of your taste.

Tips may look Weird, but works!

One of the great things about reading tips is discovering all the ingenious ways people solve problems. A really strange tip may raise a few eyebrows, but who cares as long as it works?

Here are some of my offbeat favorites and collected tips.

--> Ripen green tomatoes by storing them in a paper bag with an already ripe apple for a couple of days. Don't put more than five or six tomatoes in the bag.

--> Remove teacup stains by rubbing the inside with a cut lemon. For extra scrubbing power, dip the lemon in kosher salt. Then wash in hot soapy water.

--> If you don't own a glass-top cake stand, keep the cake fresh by covering it with the clean outside bowl of a large salad spinner.

--> The best storage container for a raw onion after it's cut is an airtight screwtop glass jar. (Plastic containers can absorb the odor.) A cut onion can be refrigerated this way for upto a week.

--> Check to see if a cake is done by sticking an uncooked strand of spaghetti into its center. If there's moist batter on it when you pull it out, the cake needs to bake longer. If it's dry, the cake is done.

--> Shine small copper items by rubbing gently with a cotton swab dipped in ketchup. Rub off with a cotton cloth and they'll gleam.

--> Remove dirty or greasy fingerprints from painted walls or non-washable wallpaper by rubbing the area with a slice of white bread.

Veggie Enchilada

An enchilada is a traditional Mexican dish, typically made with a corn tortilla dipped briefly in hot lard or oil to soften then dipped in the chosen enchilada sauce. The tortillas are filled and rolled up, placed in a casserole, then layered with sauce and possibly other additions such as cheese and chopped onions or olives.

Enchiladas made with meat or cheese fillings are very popular. Vegetables, seafood, eggs, or bananas may also be used.

Since we are vegetarian, I prepared veggie enchilada.


Ingredients:
Corn or flour tortillas - 5 (I used corn tortillas)
Salsa - 3/4 cup (Taco sauce can also be used instead)
White sauce - 1cup
Grated cheese - 1/2 cup

For Filling:

Chopped mixed vegetables (onions, carrots, cabbage) - 1 cup
Tomato chopped - 1
Corn and Peas - 1/2 cup (I used frozen)
Jalapenos - 10 slices (I used pickled ones)
Spinach curry or spinach
Coriander leaves or parsley finely chopped - 1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Olive oil - 1 tbsp

For white sauce:

Butter - 1 tbsp
All purpose flour or maida - 1tbsp
Milk - 1 cup (at room temp)
Grated cheese - 1 tbsp (I used Cheddar)
salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Dried parsley (optional) - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Prepare the filling. Saute the onions in olive oil for 2-3 mts and then add mixed vegetables and jalapenos and saute again. Next add the peas and corn. When they are almost done, add chopped tomato and let it cook in med-low with lid ON for few min. Add spinach curry (only if you have any left over curries), chopped coriander or parsley and combine well and cook for 2 mins. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat and cool. Filling is ready. Keep aside.
2. Prepare the white sauce. Heat a cooking vessel and on low flame, add the butter and let it melt. Add maida and keep stirring using a hand whisk over a low flame till well blended. Slowly add the milk, stirring continuously. Add cheese and parsley. Increase the heat to medium and continue to stir until you have a nice smooth consistency sauce. Once in a while, remove the vessel away from the heat for a few seconds and place it back while stirring. Season with salt, pepper and parsley.
3. Prepare the tortillas. Wrap the stack of tortillas in a paper towel and reheat briefly in a microwave (or heat each tortilla before you stuff it, on a hot skillet with a little olive oil, till softened).
4. Place about 2 heaped tbsps of the filling in the middle of each tortilla - length wise and fold in form of business letter or roll it up and place it carefully fold side down in a lightly oiled 13" x 9" x 2" baking dish or casserole. Repeat with rest of the tortillas and place them side by side as shown in the picture.
5. Now spread the white sauce over all the tortillas covering the entire casserole, followed by salsa or taco sauce and then sprinkle grated cheese all over. Seal with alumunium foil.
6. In a pre-heated oven, bake this at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted, the sauce is bubbling, and the enchiladas are hot.

Let it stand for 5 min outside the oven and serve hot with common garnishes such as cream, sliced or chopped onions, sour cream, lettuce, olives, chili peppers, and fresh cilantro. Fried eggs may be added as a final touch or as a side dish!!!

Even though the procedure looks too long, its very easy with lots of fun in doing it. It hardly takes 25-30 min for prep & cooking and 20 min for baking. So, this mouthering dish can be prepared with in 45-50 min !

Cabbage Fry

One of the oldest known vegetables, the cabbage seems to always have been with us. It grew both East and West, though the early cabbage was a weedy, loose-leafed plant. The firm head that we know today was a later development, most closely resembling kale, to which it is related. This was called wild cabbage, and is still called sea cabbage by the French.

In its raw state, cabbage contains iron, calcium, and potassium. High marks are given for its vitamin C content. Cabbage is also high in vitamins B1, B2, and B3.

Red cabbage is higher in fiber than green. It's higher in vitamin C also higher in calcium, iron, and potassium than its green cousin.

Lengthy cooking tends to lower the nutritional value considerably.

Ingredients:
Green cabbage - 1
Mustard - 1tsp
Zeera - 1tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt
Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a non-stick pan and do the seasoning with mustard and zeera seeds.
2. Add the shredded cabbage and fry by frequently stirring.
3. When the cabbage changes from white to light brown color, add salt and chilli powder.
4. Fry until the water that comes when you add salt evaporates.

This is simple and easy one. You can even cut cabbage before hand and store it for next day's preparation. It goes well with rice and chapathi.